‘JAG’ will try to prove she’s still got what it takes to stand at the top of the women’s strawweight division on June 1st.
Jessica Aguilar will be making her return to the UFC in Utica, New York.
The former WSOF strawweight champ hasn’t had any luck since arriving in the UFC, dropping her first two fights in the Octagon to Claudia Gadelha and Cortney Casey via decision. She’ll get a chance to right her course on June 1st at the Adirondack Bank Center against Jodie Esquibel.
Aguilar or “JAG” as she’s often referred to was once considered one of the best female fighters in the sport, and is the only person to hold two wins over GOAT Megumi Fujii. Leading up to her UFC arrival she went 10-0 over five years and hasn’t been finished since her first MMA fight way back in 2006. But age may be catching up with the 35 year old, or perhaps its just the rising tide of WMMA talent.
Jodie Esquibel hasn’t had much luck in the UFC either, losing her sole fight with the promotion to Karolina Kowalkiewicz by decision. Before that she had a checkered Invicta FC record and currently stands at 6-3. Esquibel also holds a 7-7 professional boxing record.
This will be the first fight for “JAG” since May of 2017. She was originally set to return in February but an injury to her opponent Livia Renata Souza scrapped that fight. It will be interesting to see whether Aguilar will be able to show off the skills that made her one of the most highly touted fighters in WMMA or if this fight is confirmation that her best days are behind her.
UFC Utica goes down June 1st and is headlined by a bantamweight battle between Jimmie Rivera and Marlon Moraes, another former WSOF champion.